Michael Vernace was the game's first star with 2 goals and 3 points, including the overtime winner.

Norfolk moves to within 6 points of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with the Penguins holding a game in hand. Here's an interesting statistic: Norfolk has played 18 games on the road already and just 7 games at home. That means that with only about a quarter of the season gone, the club has already played almost half of its games away from The Scope. They have a ridiculous .722 winning percentage on the road, and just a .571 winning percentage at home. The team will have a glut of home games to play during the second half of the season, and if they can start winning at home at the same clip they do on the road, they've got a great chance of winning their division.

Chris Durno, Johan Harju, and Michael Vernace were the game's three stars. It's great to see a pair of goals by Harju. You always wonder how a player is going to respond the first time they get sent back down to the minors, especially a European player. Harju appears to have responded well. Same thing with James Wright, who had a shorty tonight in garbage time.

Norfolk's weekend has the sour taste of a two point weekend that should have been a four point weekend.

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Dustin Tokarski allowed 7 goals on 29 shots for the overtime loss. Rebound control was the culprit. With the exception of the last goal, he was making the first stop and his positioning wasn't bad. But, he was kicking rebounds up the slot and the Admirals defense was not clearing them out. I thought he played better than Desjardins did last night, but neither was acceptable, obviously.

Paul Szczechura was the game's second star. Juraj Simek was, in my opinion, the best Admiral tonight. He showed excellent hand-eye coordination batting a puck out of air for his goal, and that line he has with Pouliot and Harju in one of the best in the league right now.

Through two periods, the defense was much improved tonight. I don't know if that's a function of Mike Flanagan being back to run the defense after Steve Thomas did it last night, but they were better at taking care of details within five feet of their own blueline, with the exception of Portland's first goal. The last period was just the intersection of a team letting its foot off the gas once Harju scored on a semi-soft goal to make it 6-4 and some bad luck with rebounds going right onto Pirates' sticks. The biggest play of the game was the 2-on-1 goal Portland scored to make it 6-5, where Michael Vernace got completely lost. I'm not surprised he was -3 tonight. He's struggling with his positioning and the way he surrenders the blueline on the rush, they might need to start calling him Versailles.

My revalation of the night was Stefano Giliati, who is a speedy little sparkplug who was either generating scoring chances or popping people all night long. He got his first point as an Admiral tonight, and I was impressed. I'm surprised they don't play him more.

I liked the way rookies Mark Barberio and Radko Gudas played. Barberio ended up a team high +2 along with Mihalik, and although his skating is mediocre, he's outstanding at reading the play in the offensive end. He's a very crafty player. He has a ways to go, but I enjoyed what I saw. Gudas appeared in both games this weekend, and he was quiet for most of five periods of hockey, but he was very visible in the third period tonight. He and Wishart are the only two Admirals who routinely step up at their blueline and give a pop, but what surprised me about Radko was how he carried the puck offensively a couple of times. The skill set is there, and it's real. Like Barberio, he's a couple of years off, but there's something to work with there, and he and Mihalik make a decent little pairing. The reunification of Czechoslovakia going on with that pairing.

It makes me puke that a goaltender as bad as Leggio managed to backdoor his way into two wins this weekend. That's annoying.

I'll be leaving Norfolk tomorrow morning, but I just wanted to close by encouraging Lightning fans to make the trip if you're looking for a weekend trip. This is an entertaining team, with the highest scoring offense in the league, and this is a good town. I enjoy coming to Norfolk because it reminds me a lot of Tampa, and I think you'll feel the same way to if you come up here.

The Tampa Bay Lightning assigned defenseman Mike Vernace to the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Vernace, 6-foot, 216 pounds, has played in seven of the Lightningâ€™s nine games this season, averaging 9:06 in ice time per game. He made his debut with Tampa Bay on October 9 against Atlanta and played a season-high 16:33 in ice time October 16 at Florida. Vernace has played in 19 career NHL games with the Lightning and Colorado Avalanche.

A native of Toronto, Ontario, Vernace has skated in 236 career AHL games with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Chicago Wolves, Lake Erie Monsters and Albany River Rats. He has amassed nine career goals and 71 career points.

Vernace was signed by the Lightning as a free agent on July 29, 2010. He was originally drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round, 201st overall, of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
--Tampa Bay Lightning press release

When the Lightning need a good luck charm, they put St. Pete Times Forum VP of Operations Mary Milne on the TV, and game winning goals ensue.

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Dan Ellis stopped all 24 shots he faced after replacing Mike Smith to get the win. He was excellent controlling his rebounds, which is a new. Smitty, bless his heart, allowed 3 goals on 7 shots. He looked so good in his last start. It was surprising to see him fall off so quickly. The NHL should be scared to death of a time that will eventually come when the Lightning get some consistent goaltending.

Martin St. Louis, Dan Ellis, and Nate Thompson were the game's three stars. A lot of teams would've packed it in after giving up three unanswered goals to the Pens in the first period. Credit to Teddy Purcell for getting the Lightning back to within one. They were like a pack of hungry, wild dogs after that, seriously outchancing Pittsburgh in the final two frames.

Mattias Ritola had his first point with the Lightning, an assist, in 8:18. My initial impressions of Ritola! is that he wins the D. Affy award for being an NHLer from the opposing blueline in.

Dana Tyrell had his first NHL goal, two shots, and one blocked shot in 15:18. Here's what I liked about Dana tonight: it's human nature to relax a little after you've had some success. Dana seemed to work even harder after he got that goal, if that's possible.

Michael Vernace was +1 with 2 penalty minutes and 1 hit in 3:23. In case your wondering, my back-of-the-envelope estimate is that Vernace made $1,567.71 for every minute he was on the ice tonight. Nice work if you can get it.

As I've been saying on the BoltProspects Message Board, my hope for the team was to get 14 points out of their first 10 games. That was an aggressive number for a team with a lot of new players and a new system, but it's the kind of start they really needed to get out of the chute well on a playoff push. They have 13 points through their first 9 games heading into Phoenix on Saturday. That's not a gimme, but they're definitely off to the kind of start they needed.